Best three row vehicle that is not a minivan

[Anonymous]

Love my minivan. Even my teen prefers the minivan to our economy car. He feels significantly safer in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love my minivan. Even my teen prefers the minivan to our economy car. He feels significantly safer in it.

My teen driver, that is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When we bought our 3-row SUV a few years ago, the Volvo XC90 was the best option- middle of 2nd row folds down for access to 3rd row with carseats in outer seats of 2nd row, most cargo room even with 3rd row up, and airbags in 3rd row. The Highlander, Pilot, MDX, and others didn't have those features then, but it sounds like they may now. Anyway, we love ou
r XC90.

Thanks for the info. Went to carmax and tried pilot and xc90 today...both definitely had gpod third row access and beyter cargo space than other bramds i have tried evem the larger metcedes gl and lexus lx.

Boy, did I ever HATE my Volvo... 34 service visits in 37 months at that point, I had ENOUGH and traded it on a minivan. Even the service advisors at Volvo felt sorry for me.

Same here!!! Did you have the early XC-90? The one that had the transmission blow because they used a Pontiac transmission on a truck? I also had a very expensive part go on the anti-rollover feature. UGH! I still have that beast (the AP drives it). God, do I hate it!!!!

Yes, it was one of the earlier XC-90s and it was everything, truly just one thing after the other. The minute it was out of warranty I dumped it. The transmission went out right before I managed to get rid of it. Literally, I was going to pick up the van that evening and DH called on the way home and said "I think the transmission just went out" so I drove it limping along the beltway to trade it in. God I hated that car and I can't even imagine ever buying another Volvo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we have 3 kids and so far love the 2011 subaru outback. it doesn't have 3 rows but we get 2 car seats and a kid in th emiddle and have lots of trunk space and good gas mileage. I don't understand 2 kid families who think they need a giant car.

If you have two or more kids and carpool frequently or have your kids' friends in the car a lot (or visiting family), you need a third row.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any one with an enclave/Arcadia/etc able to comment on whether you could fit 2 kids, a double stroller and an 80 poud dog? We have a Lexus RX, which I LOVE, but it is tight already. I'm pregnant with #2. We're hoping to make this car work for a while, but will need to go bigger soon. We may have a 3rd kid as well, so should we just go straight to a minivan or giant SUV like a Tahoe or sequoia? We do a lot of weekend trips with the dog so we need the space!

This is me. Love my Lex Rx and thought it would be my long term car as we were planning for two kids. Well I am pregnant with twins in lieu of the singleton in our plan and our toddler is 2. So my beloved RX has to go. I am trying to avoid minivan and gigantic SUVs...hoping one of these Enclave, Honda Pilot, Mercedes R class, Infiniti JX cars will work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When we bought our 3-row SUV a few years ago, the Volvo XC90 was the best option- middle of 2nd row folds down for access to 3rd row with carseats in outer seats of 2nd row, most cargo room even with 3rd row up, and airbags in 3rd row. The Highlander, Pilot, MDX, and others didn't have those features then, but it sounds like they may now. Anyway, we love ou
r XC90.

Thanks for the info. Went to carmax and tried pilot and xc90 today...both definitely had gpod third row access and beyter cargo space than other bramds i have tried evem the larger metcedes gl and lexus lx.

Boy, did I ever HATE my Volvo... 34 service visits in 37 months at that point, I had ENOUGH and traded it on a minivan. Even the service advisors at Volvo felt sorry for me.

Same here!!! Did you have the early XC-90? The one that had the transmission blow because they used a Pontiac transmission on a truck? I also had a very expensive part go on the anti-rollover feature. UGH! I still have that beast (the AP drives it). God, do I hate it!!!!

Yes, it was one of the earlier XC-90s and it was everything, truly just one thing after the other. The minute it was out of warranty I dumped it. The transmission went out right before I managed to get rid of it. Literally, I was going to pick up the van that evening and DH called on the way home and said "I think the transmission just went out" so I drove it limping along the beltway to trade it in. God I hated that car and I can't even imagine ever buying another Volvo.

I'm the Volvo commiserator. I think the later models may be better (we have a 2004). Nonetheless, we have sworn off Volvos forever as well as a result of that car. I only keep it because I can't afford something else right now. I envy you getting rid of yours! Oh, btw, Volvo did pay to replace our transmission even though we were just out of the warranty period. they told me it was on a case by case basis and they only did it because we had a history of buying Volvos and we actually service them at the dealer as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we have 3 kids and so far love the 2011 subaru outback. it doesn't have 3 rows but we get 2 car seats and a kid in th emiddle and have lots of trunk space and good gas mileage. I don't understand 2 kid families who think they need a giant car.

If you have two or more kids and carpool frequently or have your kids' friends in the car a lot (or visiting family), you need a third row.

This. How can you carpool with 2 kids and only 2 rows?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love my minivan. Even my teen prefers the minivan to our economy car. He feels significantly safer in it.

My teen driver, that is.

Your teen driver can parallel park a minivan?! I'm impressed -- we have 3 teen/YA drivers and none of them can park our SUV.

Re Volvo XC 90 -- we have an '06 and have never had any problems. It's our 4th Volvo and, boring though they are, I gotta say, we love those cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Boy, did I ever HATE my Volvo... 34 service visits in 37 months at that point, I had ENOUGH and traded it on a minivan. Even the service advisors at Volvo felt sorry for me.

Well, you must not have been going to my dealership. My service advisor never felt sorry for me. Of course, he was one of the main things I hated about the dealership. (Him, and every other part of the service department. Those were the two things I hated.)

[Anonymous]

GMAC Acadia / Enclave / Traverse. third row comfortably fits adults. More and better car than the Highlander for $5-8k less.

[Anonymous]

I've always had Volvo station wagons. I have never needed to pay a single maintenance bill outside of routine oil changes, etc. The problem is just with SUVs. Otherwise Volvos are known for being cars that you can drive for 20 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Boy, did I ever HATE my Volvo... 34 service visits in 37 months at that point, I had ENOUGH and traded it on a minivan. Even the service advisors at Volvo felt sorry for me.

Well, you must not have been going to my dealership. My service advisor never felt sorry for me. Of course, he was one of the main things I hated about the dealership. (Him, and every other part of the service department. Those were the two things I hated.)

It wasn't Martens, was it?

[Anonymous]

Mazda CX9

90% the lux of an MDX....$10K less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try Chevy tahoe..i LOVE LOVE LOVE mine.

But why do you hate clean air?

LOVE my Tahoe

Yep, LOVE your Tahoe. Fuck the future!

I love watching all the tips going around our school newsletter for Earth Day celebrations. There are 1001 suggestions on how to recycle more, but no one dares suggest that all the Tahoe driving parents ditch the gas guzzler. Nope. God forbid.

[Anonymous]

No one has mentioned the RAV4. OP doesn't say what they want the 3rd row for. If it's to carry adults in, then forget the RAV4. If it's to carry little kids in, it's great. It gets 24 mpg. the third row is small, but you can easily fit 2 kids or small adults in the 3rd row. The middle row seats fold down and slide forward so you can climb into the third row. The third row also splits 50/50.

We just got one last week to use as a second car (primary car is a minivan) and we love it! It's small enough to parallel park easily and has a zippy drive feel (at least compared to our behemoth minivan).